Cecilia Beaux

Cecilia Beaux was born in Philadelphia. After receiving early drawing lessons from her family, and after studying, privately,
under the Dutch artist Adolf van der Whelen, and later under William Sartain, Beaux entered the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine
Art. In 1889, she went to Europe to study at the Académie Julian and at Colarossi's. She was later appointed to the faculty
of the Pennsylvania Academy, the first full time woman instructor there, where she taught for over 20 years. A leading
portraitist, her favorite subjects were women and children. Throughout her career she was commissioned to paint portraits
of many political figures, including President and Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt in the White House.

Cecilia Beaux's vibrant, fluent style is defined by her use of whites, yellows and lavenders
against bright black backgrounds.
Her 1895 painting, "New England Woman", which she exhibited in Philadelphia, marked her as an Impressionist particularly by
her use of color: glare light illuminating the profile of a woman.

Cecilia Beaux was awarded high honors in the important exhibitions of her time, both in the U.S. and abroad. She continued
to paint, dividing her time between Philadelphia, New York and Gloucester, Massachusetts, where she died on September 16, 1942.